In many electronic systems, e.g. in automobile systems, a safety transmission of sensor data should be guaranteed. High requirements may be imposed on the functional safety of sensor data, usually through safety standards, e.g. ISO26262. For example sensor interfaces based on the PSI5 standard are used in airbag systems today. At start-up, fixed pre-determined sequences may be sent from a sensor to a receiver circuit. In today's systems, the diagnostics of the signal chain may be carried out only once during the turn on phase of the system. After start-up, data such as sensor or status information may be sent to the receiver circuit. Even if diagnostics were to be carried out, e.g. continuously during operation, the diagnostic intervals are usually so large that, in cases of failure, it may not be possible to diagnose a signal chain in a time interval small enough to react in sufficient time. Mistakes which occur during the operation time may be dealt with inadequately; therefore mistakes may only be partially diagnosed or be missed completely.